In the early morning of the next day, everyone got ready and set off. Wang Muzhi personally came with people to see them off, and set up a farewell banquet outside the north gate for the two new officials.
When seeing him off, Li Hui couldn't help but ask Wang Muzhi whether there were bandits entrenched in Juchao County. As a result, Wang Muzhi's expression changed drastically and he yelled at Li Hui.
"Where did you hear the rumors? Although the world under our rule in Liyang County is not peaceful, there are absolutely no bandits. Are you questioning my ability to govern? The people of Juchao County are simple and honest. What kind of bandits are here? Hearsay can never be trusted. These are all rumors spread by unscrupulous people. I am investigating and punishing those who spread rumors. Unexpectedly, you, Li County Cheng, are also spreading rumors and disturbing people's hearts. It is really unreasonable."
Lu Zhan also scolded Li Hui repeatedly, appearing very annoyed. Li Hui had no choice but to shut up.
We set out at this time and walked northwest along the official road. We encountered many checkpoints on the road, and there were government soldiers guarding the checkpoints. The inspections were very strict. Of course, these government soldiers would not inspect the convoys of the two officials who took office. If there is an interrogation, the gate will be opened directly for release.
But Li Hui became more and more aware that what the teahouse shopkeeper said was true. The purpose of these checkpoints set up on the road was to stop the refugees coming from the direction of Juchao County. It was also a means to restrict the escape of local people.
In the evening of that day, we stayed at an official road post station. According to what Yi Cheng said, we were already less than seventy miles away from Juchao County. We could enter Juchao County early tomorrow morning and arrive at Juchao County tomorrow night.
That night, Li Hui called Zhao Dachun and Li Dazhuang and ordered them to be highly vigilant when they hit the road tomorrow, pay attention to the surrounding situation at all times, and asked them to prepare their big iron rods in case of accidents.
Li Hui himself took out the dagger that Gu Qian gave him and placed it beside his pillow. From now on, this dagger will never leave his body.
Not only that, Li Hui also quietly told Lu Zhan's entourage and guards to take out their weapons and crossbows, and be alert on the road tomorrow and be extra careful.
Early the next morning, everyone continued on the road. After walking for a while, there was a hill lying in front of them. The official road extended diagonally upwards, leading directly between the hills. There was a stone tablet on both sides of the official road at the bottom of the slope. On the north side of the stone tablet was written The three characters "Ruxu Mountain" are written on the stone tablet on the south side: Juchao County.
It seems that this mountain is the boundary mountain on the east side of Juchao County.
There is a checkpoint not far away. There are a lot of soldiers at the checkpoint here, more than the number of checkpoints encountered on the road, sixty or seventy people. And on the slopes of the hills on both sides, the sentinel can still be vaguely seen. A facility that looks like a beacon tower.
Li Hui thought to himself: This is probably the last checkpoint set up to prevent the common people and refugees in Juchao County from flowing out. With this hill blocking the way, the checkpoints set up on the edge of the county can block large groups of refugees to the maximum extent. Fleeing.
One of the leaders at the checkpoint, Uncle Dub, asked for his identity and ordered the vehicle to be released. When the vehicle passed the checkpoint, Uncle Dub and the soldiers stood on the side of the road and watched, with strange expressions on their faces. It was like ridicule, more like A kind of mercy.
The official road went up, and the road was rugged. After traveling for several miles, we finally reached a piece of flat land at a high place. It turned out to be a place like a market town. There were many stone houses on both sides of the road, and some tall and dilapidated ones. Beacon fire, collapsed fence.
The official road passes through the middle, and there are shadows between the dilapidated houses on both sides. It seems that many people are watching in secret. It makes people feel vaguely uneasy.
Because of the serious bumps in the vehicle, Lu Zhan got out of the car and walked when going uphill. At this moment, Lu Zhan seemed to have a bad feeling when he came to this strange place.
"Where is this place? Why don't these people show up? Are they sneaky?" Lu Zhan said.
Li Huidao said: "Lord County Magistrate Lu, I will go to inquire and ask for directions."
Li Hui took Zhao Dachun and Guo Dazhuang to a stone house on the roadside. Just then he saw someone poking around here. When they got to the house, there was no sound again.
Li Hui stood at the door of the house and shouted: "Don't be afraid, I'm passing by here to ask for directions."
In the dilapidated and dark stone house, a thin, dark old man in ragged clothes and dirty body slowly appeared. With a look of horror in his eyes, the old man looked at Li Hui and others blankly.
"Don't panic, old man. We are passing by here and want to go to Juchao County. May I ask where this place is? How far is it from the county seat?" Li Hui said, cupping his hands.
The old man looked Li Hui and others up and down, and said in a trembling voice: "You...are not here to arrest us?"
Li Hui smiled and said: "Why are we arresting you? We don't know you. We have no grievances or grudges. We are just asking for directions."
The old man was obviously relieved and said hurriedly: "That's good, that's good. This is Ruxu Mountain, oh, it's also called Dongguan Town. Forty miles down the mountain to the west is Juchao County."
Li Hui groaned, cupped his hands and said, "Thanks for the advice."
The old man cupped his hands and said, "You...really want to go to the county seat?"
Li Hui smiled and said: "Yes, we are going to Juchao County."
The old man said: "Where are you from? What are you going to do?"
Li Hui felt that the old man's curiosity seemed too strong. He smiled and said: "Old man, thank you for showing me the way. This is a reward. We are on our way now."
Li Hui took out a bunch of copper coins and handed them to the old man, then said goodbye.
The old man held the bunch of copper coins in his hand and looked at the backs of Li Hui and others. He was stunned for a moment and suddenly said: "This young gentleman, please stay."
Li Hui turned around and said with a smile: "What? What's the matter with my father-in-law?"
The old man came forward and whispered: "I advise you to turn back and leave here quickly. Don't go any further."
Li Hui smiled and said, "Why?"
The old man looked around and found a lot of heads sticking out from the roadside to look here. He said hurriedly: "No reason, I just want to remind you. I have to leave, you can make up your own mind. In short, we can't go forward.
."
The old man turned around and left. Li Hui shouted from behind: "Are there bandits entrenched here, and I am worried that we will be killed by them?"
The old man trembled and ran faster. He dove into the house and never showed up again.
Li Hui frowned and returned to the road. Lu Zhan was impatient with the wait. He frowned and asked, "Did you ask? Where is this place? How many miles is it from the county seat?"
Li Huidao: "This is Dongguan, Juchao County. There are still forty miles after going down the mountain."
Lu Zhan said: "Forty miles? Then we don't need to wait until evening. We can arrive in the afternoon."
Li Hui nodded, thought for a while and then said: "Does County Magistrate Lu feel that the atmosphere is a little strange? Just now I asked the old man, and he warned us not to go forward. Hearing his tone, I was very scared. I'm worried..."
Lu Zhan waved his hand and interrupted: "I know what you are going to say. There are indeed some weird things here, but they are just ordinary people. Don't try to scare me with any gangsters. None of the sentinel soldiers along the way said there are any in Juchao County.
Bandits, these people are living here well. Don't say any more of your hearsay. I have already warned you not to say these things again."
Li Hui frowned and had no choice but to shut up.
Everyone got on the bus and passed through Dongguan Town. The road went down, and the view ahead suddenly opened up. Looking down, they saw an open land at the foot of the west side of Ruxu Mountain, and a large river winding through the south side of Ruxu Mountain and flowing to the southeast.
Direction. At this moment, the winter sun is shining, the river is sparkling, the mountains are open, the sky is high and the sun is bright, and the scenery is quite spectacular.
Lu Zhan looked at the scenery and laughed loudly: "Look, this is the place I want to manage. What a wonderful place. In my hands, I want to make this place orderly, so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment, and become a paradise."
"
After descending from Ruxu Mountain, there was a flat plain for twenty or thirty miles ahead. Lu Zhan was in a good mood. He stuck his head out of the carriage and kept talking.
Li Hui has been paying attention to the surrounding situation, and always feels that something is wrong. For dozens of miles, there is almost no pedestrian on the official road, which is somewhat strange. Even if you can't see the local people, you should be able to see some.
They were the refugees. However, along the way, the surrounding fields were desolate and empty, and there was a dead silence. It seemed that they were the only group of people marching on the land in the entire county. It made people feel that the atmosphere was strange.
There are still ten miles away from Juchao County, and there are several hills stretching in front. The mountains here are not high, but they are continuous.
After arriving at the top of the hillside between the two hills in front, Juchao County finally came into view. It was a small gray city. From a distance, the city was less than two or three miles in radius, with a cluster of dark houses.
The houses looked messy and dilapidated. To the southwest of the county town, there was a vast white lake that could not be seen to the edge at a glance.
I have long known that the terrain of Juchao County is surrounded by hills on three sides and faces a lake on one side. Now it seems that this is indeed the case.
Different from Lu Zhan's excitement, after Li Hui saw the big lake, he completely believed that the bandits might be entrenched in the lake, and it would be difficult to encircle and suppress it. Because the big lake was so big. It was initially estimated that the bandits had a radius of dozens of
It's more than enough.
Li Hui suddenly remembered what kind of lake this was. In later generations, this lake was Chao Lake, one of the five major freshwater lakes in China. However, Li Hui had never been here, and Chaohu ranked at the bottom of the five major freshwater lakes.
It is far less famous than other lakes, so I never thought of it before.
Just when everyone was standing on the hillside of the pipe in the east of the city, looking at the county seat and the lake, and talking about it, three people walked slowly from the official road in front. The three people walked over slowly with their waists hunched.
Li Hui whispered to the nursing staff to stay vigilant. Lu Zhan didn't take it seriously. When the three people approached, he said loudly: "Stop. Are you from the county? Are you locals?"
The three of them stopped, and one of them lowered his head and said, "Yes, we are from the county. We are locals."
Li Hui frowned when he heard this person speak. Because the accent of this person was the Mandarin of the Central Plains, not the southern accent, nor the accent that people in Juchao County should have. The person here spoke Jianghuai
Li Hui has heard too many Mandarin words along the way.
He said he was a local, which would be a lie. Moreover, these three people seemed to be hunched over, with a submissive and sluggish appearance. But it could be seen that they were very strong and their clothes were very neat. They did not look like
Ordinary refugees. Moreover, there are bulging bags in their outer robes, as if they are hiding something. This has to make people wary.